Improving Compatibility of Drilling Fluid, Completion Fluid, and Other Well-Treatment Fluids for Deepwater Wells

摘要

In Gulf of Mexico (GOM) deepwater completions, synthetic-based mud (SBM) has been used widely for drilling the reservoir section. With increasing well depth and higher reservoir pressure, higher-density drilling fluids are used. It has been observed that with the increased density of drilling fluid, the incompatibility of drilling fluid, completion fluid, and other well-treatment fluids can cause additional problems in drilling and completion activities. Often, the formation damage caused by such incompatibility can be very difficult to remediate. Chemical additives were studied for preventing this incompatibility between drilling fluid, completion fluid, and other well-treatment fluids.In deep water, wellbore cleanup is critical for drilling and completing wells. There have been cases in the GOM in which several extra days were needed to achieve acceptable cleanup.